On Friday, I waited anxiously in line with other Mac enthusiasts at the Apple Store Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga for the release of Mac OS X Leopard. It was scheduled to go on sale at 6 pm. I arrived at 4:15 pm and although there was a line, it wasn't too long at that time. While we waited, Apple Store employees gave out free bottled water to help make the wait go a little easier.

They let customers into the store in groups of 10 to 15 at 6 pm. As we walked in, I was handed an Apple Mac OS X Leopard t-shirt and a group of Apple Store employees lined up on both sides of the group applauded as we walked by. By 6:15 pm I had my t-shirt and Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack in hand and exited the store.

Friday night, I installed Leopard on my Mac Pro, Toni's PowerBook Pro and Erin's MacBook without a hitch. All of our computers feel quicker and more responsive with Mac OS 10.5, but I noticed the most improvement on my Mac Pro. It just feels like it's taking better advantage of the hardware now. Overall, my programs have transitioned very well to the new Macintosh operating system. There were some programs that needed updating for optimal Leopard compatibility. I saw a few glitches in some applications, but nothing that was a show stopper. I am very pleased with the update and am sure I will enjoy it even more as application updates and OS revisions appear.

Although my tastes have matured to gourmet sorbet and ice cream, I still feel warm and cozy when I think about the ice cream man. Today, I went outside for a walk at my sister-in-law Trisha's house. We were there celebrating her birthday. The ice cream man had stopped at the house next door and several children had gathered around the truck.

That made me think back to when my mom would buy me ice cream from the ice cream man. It was always an event when we heard the distinctive music emanating from that familiar frozen confection carrying vehicle. I remember a few phases I went through during my childhood.

The first phase was when I fell in love with banana popsicles. I loved how they tasted. They were the Popsicle brand ones with two sticks. You were supposed to be able to break it down the center to make two long popsicles, but it never seemed to break properly for me as a kid.

The second phase was Orange Fifty-Fifty bars. You know the ones that were orange flavored popsicle on the outside with a vanilla ice cream filled center. I think they were called Creamsicles. Boy, I loved those too.

Then, as my tastes matured, I became a Fudgsicle addict. I thought the creamy chocolately frozen confection was the nearest thing to heaven I had ever experienced.

There were also periods where I bought non ice cream items from the ice cream man as well. My favorites included cinnamon toothpicks, bottle caps candy, a sour candy you would dip into a powdered candy and jawbreakers. Along the way, I enjoyed ice cream sandwiches, sno-cones, Buried Treasures and Bomb Pops as well.

Looking at photographs I've taken from past vacations always brings back fond memories. It brings me right back to the where I was at the time. It brings back great memories of my loved ones with me. I just love how looking at pictures makes me feel. I think that's why I love to take pictures. It makes me feel good and it makes other feel good too. That's a good thing.

I drove past a Pizza Hut restaurant the other day. It was one of the old fashioned ones that actually has a dining room in it. The one I'm referring to happens to be in Palm Springs. I've eaten in that Pizza Hut. They have a buffet lunch that's served there during the week.

Most Pizza Huts, like the one near my house, are now take out and delivery only restaurants. They have a few seats to sit in while you wait for your pizza to bake. There's no dining room whatsoever. It's kind of sad to me that most of them don't allow dining in.

Although the Pizza Hut in Palm Springs has a dining room, its not really like the ones I remember in the older restaurants. There's something comforting and nostalgic about those older dining rooms. Don't get me wrong. They weren't fancy restaurants. Far from it. But, the memory of eating there holds a certain nostalgia for me. I think it's just a bit of my childhood that I remember fondly.

There's actually a lot of fond childhood memories I hold dear. You know, the kind of memories that when you think about them, you feel warm and cozy and safe. It's a really content happiness I feel when I think back on them. I want to remember more of these types of memories. Whenever I think about one, I will write about it so I can remember and get that warm, safe feeling again like I did when I was a child.

Anyway, eating at Pizza Hut and having a thin crust pepperoni pizza is one of those memories.